Adjustable orthodontic device



Jan. 28, 1969 PEARLMAN ADJUSTABLE ORTHODONTIC DEVICE Filed Aug. 15, 1967 F l G. 5 5 Will/4| F l G. IO 70 INVENT LAWRENCE PEAR N BY 4/0? L7, NM

' TTORNEY United States Patent 3,423,833 ADJUSTABLE ORTHODONTIC DEVICE Lawrence Pearlman, 231 East St., Sharon, Mass. 02067 Filed Aug. 15, 1967, Ser. No. 660,770 U5. Cl. 3214 Int. Cl. A61c 7/00 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to orthodontic devices and more particularly comprises an adjustable bracket support particularly useful in the mounting of uprighting and rotation brackets.

At the present time there is a need for an adjustable bracket which may be turned in small increments on the tooth so as to vary the direction of forces applied to the tooth by the wire or wires connected to the bracket. Under present methods, adjustments are made by bending the wires secured to the brackets, and it will be appreciated that when a number of teeth are being treated, the bend in the wire between one pair of brackets may effect the force applied to the other teeth as well. Thus the adjusting operation is extremely complex and difficult to perform accurately.

One important object of this invention is to provide a bracket which may be adjusted to vary the force direction applied to the tooth which supports it, without the need for bending the wire or wires.

Another important object of this invention is to provide an adjustable bracket support which allows the bracket to be changed relative to the tooth without changing the band or even removing the band which supports the bracket on the tooth.

Another important object of this invention is to provide an esthetic orthodontic attachment colored to blend with the teeth.

To accomplish these and other objects the orthodontic attachment of this invention comprises a base with a circular array of teeth arranged about a central axis. A bracket support having a circular array of teeth, which mate with the teeth on the base, can be mounted on the base in a plurality of different angular positions with respect to the axis so that the position of the support on the base is adjustable. The support in turn carries a bracket which is fixed with respect to the support. and therefore may be adjusted on the base.

These and other objects and features of this invention, along with its incident advantages, will be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of several embodiments thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan View of a bracket base constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the corresponding section line in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a bracket and support adapted to be mounted on the base shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the bracket and support taken along the corresponding section line in FIG. 3 and showing it in place on the base of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of another embodiment of bracket base constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along the corresponding section line in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a bracket and support adapted to be used with the base shown in FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the bracket and support of FIG. 7 taken along the corresponding section line in FIG. 7 and showingit in place on the base of FIGS. 5 and '6;

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the bracket and support with a coating for est'hetic purposes;

PG. 10 is a cross sectional view similar to FIG. 1 but showing a modification of the base; and

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary view of a modified bracket.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 14 includes a base 20 and a bracket and support combination 22 made up of bracket 24 and support 26. The base 20 may be made of metal such as stainless steel, Nichrome or some similar material not deleterious when applied in the mouth, or alternatively the base may be made of a plastic material having suflicient rigidity and strength to be capable of withstanding the forces to which it is subjected during use. The base 20 is annular in shape having a smooth cylindrical outer surface 28 and a fluted inner surface 30 which comprises a gear-like arrangement with the teeth of the gear extending parallel to the axis of the annulus. The base 20 may be secured to a conventional band which extends about the tooth to be worked, and it may be secured by spot welding it to the band if both are made of metal, or alternatively the two may be ultrasonically welded together or secured by some other fashion. The particular manner in which the base is secured to the band forms no part of this invention. In fact, the base 20 may, if the proper materials are available, be secured directly to the tooth without the use of a band in the manner suggested in my copending application Ser. No. 579,321 filed Sept. 14, 1966.

The support 26 of the band and support combination 22 includes a cylindrical bottom portion 32 provided with vertically extending teeth 34 about its cylindrical surface, which teeth mate with the teeth on the inner surface 30 of the base 20 to secure the bracket and support combination on the base. A flange 36 extends outwardly from the top of the cylindrical portion 32 and may be of a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the base 20. Integrally formed with the cylindrical portion 32 and flange 36 is the bracket 24 which includes a central block portion 38 generally rectangular in plan with a pair of outwardly extending wings 40 and a central wire slot 42. The wire slot 42 may be either conventionally shaped as shown, or it may be narrower at the top as suggested at 43 in FIG. 11 so as to provide a self locking feature to retain the wire in the slot. The specific configuration of the bracket per se shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is conventional and does not form part of this invention.

In FIG. 4 the manner in which the bracket and support combination 22 is mounted on the base 20' is shown. It will be noted in that figure that the base 20 receives the cylindrical portion 32 of the support 26 with the teeth 34 of the support in registration with the teeth 30. It is evident that the bracket and support combination 22 may be removed from the base 20 and be rotated through any number of degrees, and then be replaced on the support with the teeth in registration with one another. The gear-like arrangement of the teeth allows the bracket and support combination to be mounted on the base in any angular position. Thus, the orientation of the slot 42 may be changed as the orthodontist desires so as to place the wire which acts on the tooth through the bracket in the desired position. Consequently, as a tooth approaches the upright position, the doctor can remove the bracket and support from the base, rotate it a few degrees and then replace it on the base to accommodate the change in position of the tooth. The advantages of such an arrangement will be readily appreciated by one skilled in the art.

It may be desirable to include in the combination a pin to releasably lock the bracket and support combination on the base in the position selected by the doctor. For this purpose, a radially extending slot 44 is provided in the base 20, a plurality of similar slots 46 are provided in the lower portion 32 of the support. A pin may be inserted through the slot 44 and one of the slots 46 in alignment with it after the bracket and support combination is mounted on the base. The pin may be withdrawn when it is desired to remove or change the position of the bracket and support on the base.

The embodiment of this invention shown in FIGS. -8 differs from that of FIGS. 1-4 only in the orientation of the gear teeth. Thus, in FIGS. 5 and 6, the base 50 is shown to be cylindrical in shape with its outer surface carrying the teeth 52 which extend parallel to the axis of the base. The bracket and support combination 54 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 includes a downwardly extending skirt 56 and a disc 58, with the inner surface of the skirt provided with teeth 60 which register with the teeth 52 on the base. Thus, the bracket and support combination 54 is mounted on the base merely by slipping the skirt 56 over the base 50. It is apparent that the particular orientation of the bracket and support combination 54 can be changed merely by removing it and rotating it with respect to the base and thereafter again slipping the skirt 56 over the base. The bracket 60, which may be identical to the bracket 24 in the first embodiment, may have the conventional slot 62 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 or the slot configuration shown in FIG. 11.

The parts of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5-8 may be made of metal, plastic or other materials compatible with the mouth, just as the parts of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4. It will also be evident that in the embodiment of FIGS. 5-8, a slot 64 may be provided in the skirt 56 through which a pin may be inserted and register with one of the slots 66 in the base just as in the first described embodiment.

In FIG. 9, a bracket and support combination substantially identical to that shown in FIG. 4 is illustrated, but in this embodiment, the part is shown made of metal bearing a plastic surface or facing 68. Thus, the part is shown to have a core identical to that of FIG. 4, and the parts bear like numbers. However, the part is shown he in the form of a white coating which extends over in addition to have the plastic facing 68. The facing may all of the exposed parts of the bracket and support combination, and the layer may typically be formed of polycarbonates, although other plastics which are nonirritating to the mouth and which retain their structural strength in the body may be used. For example, such plastics as acrylates, polycarbonates and copolymers thereof may be used. Such plastics may be colored to match the color of the teeth by incorporating into them conventional dyes, pigments and/or fillers. The thickness of the plastic facing material may vary depending upon the material used and the size of the core. While in FIG. 9 the embodiment in FIG. 4 is shown with the addition of the plastic facing, it is to be understood that the same coating may be applied to the embodiment of FIGS. 5-8. Thus the support and bracket combination 54 may carry a facing if made of a metal to provide the esthetics desired.

In FIG. 10, a base substantially identical to the base 20 is shown, but wings are provided on the base to facilitate mounting of the base on a band. Thus, in FIG. 10, a base 70 is shown to be annular in shape and having wings 72 which may be soldered or welded to a band. Similar wings may be applied to the base of FIGS. 5 and 6 if necessary or desirable to secure it to a band.

Having described this invention in detail, those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications may be made of this invention without departing from its spirit. Therefore, I do not intend to limit the breadth of this invention to the single embodiment illustrated and described. Rather, it is intended that the scope of this invention be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:

1. An orthodontic attachment comprising:

a base with a circular array of teeth arranged about a central axis,

a bracket support having a circular array of teeth that mate with the teeth of the base in a plurality of different angular positions with respect to the axis whereby the support may be adjusted to vary its position with respect to the base,

and a bracket carried by the support and fixed with respect thereto.

2. An orthodontic attachment as defined in claim 1 further characterized by:

said base being annular in shape with the teeth facing radially inwardly from the annulus,

and said bracket support being cylindrical in shape and fitting within the annulus and having radially outwardly directed teeth that mate with the teeth on the base.

3. An orthodontic attachment as defined in claim 1 further characterized by:

said base having radially outwardly extending teeth,

and said bracket support being annular in shape and fitting over the base and having radially inwardly extending teeth.

4. An orthodontic attachment as defined in claim 1 further characterized by:

said base being made of metal and being adapted to be secured to a band.

5. An orthodontic attachment as defined in claim 4 further characterized by:

said support and bracket being made with a white plastic exposed surface.

6. An orthodontic attachment as defined in claim 1 further characterized by:

a pin releasably locking the bracket support on the base.

7. An orthodontic attachment as defined in claim 2 further characterized by:

said support and bracket being made with a white plastic exposed surface.

8. An orthodontic attachment as defined in claim 3 further characterized by:

said support and bracket being made with a white plastic exposed surface.

9. An orthodontic attachment as defined in claim 1 further characterized by:

a channel provided in the bracket for receiving ligating wire.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,368,851 2/1945 Laskin 3214 2,379,011 6/1945 Laskin 32-14 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT PESHOCK, Assistant Examiner. 

